Couple questions for the knowledgeable

[Dark Side]

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Question 1. Does it REALLY matter what school I go to for undergrad? I know all the websites for the different schools say it doesnt but im kind of sckeptical. I ask because I have the choice of going to UCLA or CSUN. UCLA is obviously the better school but i'll have to commute an hour each way to attend. Csun is right down the street. If going to CSUN will not hurt my chances of getting into dental school then I might as well just attend CSUN.

Question 2. I was in the Navy for 6 years as an electronics technician and now I work for a Bio-Medical company as technical support. I am also married and have a 4 Year old Daughter. Will having this experience help my chances or hurt my chances of getting into dental school and if either, how much?

Question 3. I am working full time and going to school full time. (9-11 credits during fall and spring with 5-6 credits during Summer and winter) Will this help me or hurt me when it comes to course load requirements? I know they ask that you take 15 or so credits per semester. Im technically at that level if you count summer and winter. I think they use this criteria to test whether or not you can handle the load of dental school classes. I think taking the the amount of credits I do along with working full time and taking care of my family shows that I can definatly handle and load requirements of dental school. Is this correct to assume?

Thanks in advance.

 

[nanilla]

1. School really does not matter, In your case go to the closest school. If anything I would tell people choose the college where you know you will be able to excel, the more prestigious the harder that may be.

2. Being married with a kid will really only help you with EC's. Schools will know you have many other responsibilities besides the "normal" applicant.

3. Are you just starting you undergrad, or do you already have a degree and just finishing your pre-reqs? In any case it may suffice to do your other coursework (non pre-req) by only taking 10-11 credits but when it comes to the sciences you need to load-up to show you can handle it. I realize it may be hard with a family but if you can manage just going to school that would be ideal.

 

[dent2009]

Remember, the name of the game in the app process is to achieve the highest GPA/DAT and then do whatever will set you apart from the rest. You naturally made yourself stand out by taking this route in life. And in fact, schools like older, non-traditional applicant with real-world experiences.

Now for the classes. Since you're working full-time, i (and Dschools) can imagine the difficulty in taking the 15 credits/semester. You see that's the requirement for TRADITIONAL applicants. But you're not so i'd think they'd make an exception for you especially if you maintain the 9-11 course loads/semster and 4-5 more in the summer. One of the adcoms told me she wasn't impressed with a non-trad applicant who took one class/semester for years to finish the requirements and so ended up in the rejection pile. Too bad. They didn't know any better.

Anyways, try to take at least 2 science courses/semester. If you can fit in 3, that'll be better of course. And the most important things is to maintain a competitive GPA of around 3.4-3.5.

Oh and lastly, i'd make an appointment to talk with the admissions at your local d.school about your situation and see what they have to say.

Good luck.

 

[DDSguyLA]

go where you think you can keep a high GPA. thats very important if you wanna major in science.

its easier at CSUN to keep a high GPA. if you're a genius then UCLA should be a great option.

Good luck

 

[Black Teeth]

Question 1. Does it REALLY matter what school I go to for undergrad? I know all the websites for the different schools say it doesnt but im kind of sckeptical. I ask because I have the choice of going to UCLA or CSUN. UCLA is obviously the better school but i'll have to commute an hour each way to attend. Csun is right down the street. If going to CSUN will not hurt my chances of getting into dental school then I might as well just attend CSUN.

Question 2. I was in the Navy for 6 years as an electronics technician and now I work for a Bio-Medical company as technical support. I am also married and have a 4 Year old Daughter. Will having this experience help my chances or hurt my chances of getting into dental school and if either, how much?

Question 3. I am working full time and going to school full time. (9-11 credits during fall and spring with 5-6 credits during Summer and winter) Will this help me or hurt me when it comes to course load requirements? I know they ask that you take 15 or so credits per semester. Im technically at that level if you count summer and winter. I think they use this criteria to test whether or not you can handle the load of dental school classes. I think taking the the amount of credits I do along with working full time and taking care of my family shows that I can definatly handle and load requirements of dental school. Is this correct to assume?

Thanks in advance.

As a graduate of UCLA's dental school, I would recommend staying away from UCLA. UCLA undergrad has been known to destroy many people's GPAs along with their hopes and dreams of going to medical or dental school. It's really competitive...cutthroat competitive even. There are many UCLA undergrads that make it into UCLA's dental school but there seems to be ten times more UCLA undergrads who don't. Furthermore, there were many people in my class from the CSU system. One of the top performers in my dental school class graduated from Cal State Long Beach. After finishing dental school at UCLA, he got accepted into one of the most reputable pediatric dentisty specialty programs in the nation. Clearly, going to a CSU school didn't put him at a disadvantage at all. It's really about putting yourself in a position to get the highest GPA/ DAT scores possible. Why make it harder on yourself than is really necessary by going to UCLA?